Anyone else here have Central Sleep Apnea?

i've noticed that the majority of the users on here have obstructive sleep apnea... which is all fine and dandy when it comes to needing advice about cpap machines and stuff, because the machines and masks are the same whether you have OSA or central apnea.

i however have central sleep apnea... my brain just doesn't trigger my lungs to breathe. my brain is so much more screwed up than my family thought... it even sometimes happens when i'm awake, especially when i'm concentrating on something.... i don't completely stop breathing then, but my breathing gets very shallow, and then i have to take a REALLY deep breath... which then results in a sigh, and people think i'm bored or annoyed. i'm like "i swear, i'm not bored... i just forgot to breathe!"

i used to have mild OSA, but that was taken care of once i had my tonsils & adenoids taken out. i still snore a little bit if i'm on my back, but my oxygen level didn't go down during snoring episodes, so... yeah.

aaaaanyway... my apnea is currently being treated by just my family doctor (he's pretty territorial about my care... he's like, "no, you don't need a specialist... i'll take care of it!"), but are any of you central apne...ers? (what the hell is the term for someone who has apnea?) being treated by a neurologist? and should i find a neurologist?

i love my family doctor (he's also a good family friend, which probably contributes to his territorialism...), but is it wise for me to think that i need a specialist?

thanks.

The two people on the board with CSA that come to my mind first are christinequilts and lubman - I am sure there are others with CSA.

My wife has central apnea.

I think you should see a specialist. If you are using the machine in your signature, it is likely making your central apneas worse, not better.

Treatment of central apnea requires a different ($$$) machine. My wife uses a VPAP Adapt SV. As I understand it, the machine senses what she’s doing with her breathing and responds accordingly, breath by breath. From what I understand, it acts more like a ventilator than a CPAP.

Wayne

I am new to this but I also have some centrals. Actually, according to my sleep study I had more central (49)than obstructive (41). I was really worried when I started to research central apnea and honestly, I still am. I asked to see a sleep specialist and I was told that Kaiser doesn't have one. Then I asked for a neurologist and this is what I was told via email by my doctor:

From the sleep specialist in response to your question.

The technical definition of central apnea is that there is no air flow and no respiratory, the clinical definition, which is probably the one your patient was reading about, is that the apnea is coming from a failure to trigger respiratory, often from the brain, hence the name central. In severe obstructive sleep apnea, the patient's brain may "give up" on trying to breath against the obstruction, such that some of the truly obstructive events look like they are central events. For this patient the key is that once she was put on CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE, all of her events went away, obstructive, central and mixed. If she truly had central apnea from a problem with the brain, the central apneas would not have been completely eliminated by the CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE.

I still don't know what to think of this. Any advice greatly appreciated. As far you IPLAYFONKERTON, I would ask for a referral for your own peace of mind.
Michelle

I suggest you post a copy of your PSG results (black out any personal information), where we can then see what you have
and suggest possibly a better machine to control it.

There are machines like the Respironics Adapt SV which can control it. It all depends on the type of events you
have and/or if it is classified as Complex Sleep Disordered Breathing (CSDB) or if your have the more severe
type known as Cheyenne Stokes Respiration (CSR).

What they have found in recent years elimination of central apnea is a matter of controlling your breathing,
you may even have difficulty during the day with hyperventilation etc. During sleep the machine controls
your breathing and the centrals subside on their own.

I have mild CSA which requires regular checks on the condition since I'm not using a VPAP, yet, but still able to control it with the CPAP I have. I know that I will most likely end up with a VPAP someday, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it ...

Like you, I experience events during the day and have to really focus to purge my lungs and get back into rythym ... it's a completely odd sensation and I don't know how to describe it. Fortunately I've attended some pulmonary therapy sessions and have learned a lot about ways to handle daytime events when they occur, the most common of which is to use a back pressure like technique like blowing an imaginary whistle but restricting the air flow with your lips ... I know it sounds funny but it really works, and yes people think you're crazy at times ... ...

Sleep apnea conditions (OSA, CSA, etc), generally fall under the field of pulmonology, when I was first having problems, my doctor got me in immediately to see a pulmonologist, a specialist ... and it has made a world of difference ... I would think that it wouldn't hurt anything to at least see a specialist for the condition if for nothing else than a second opinion ...

Quinda wrote:I have mild CSA which requires regular checks on the condition since I'm not using a VPAP, yet, but still able to control it with the CPAP I have. I know that I will most likely end up with a VPAP someday, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it ...

Sleep apnea conditions (OSA, CSA, etc), generally fall under field of pulmonology, when I was first having problems, my doctor got me in immediately to see a pulmonologist, a specialist ... and it has made a world of difference ... I would think that it wouldn't hurt anything to at least see a specialist for the condition if for nothing else than a second opinion ...

Your pressure is 20 cm on a Pro?

Boy I'd sure like to see your titration study where they came up with that.

Incredible I know, but that is what what I'm at with my REMStar Pro ... 20 cm h20 ... I know that sometimes the higher pressures can worsen CSA, but I've responded differently it would appear ... I'm also using the CFlex on my CPAP set to 3, with an oxygen supplement at 2 L/min using one of the two built in ports on my Mirage Quattro instead of an inline feed ...

I had my last PSG a couple of months ago, and going into it I had really thought I'd be switching machines to a VPAP or BiPAP possibly ... but that's not the way it turned out obviously ... ... I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing ... but my AHI is down <1 for the first time that I can remember ... <shrugs shoulders> ... go figure ...

thanks everyone for the replies. i went to the medical supply place today to get a different mask (i posted a rant about my current nasal pillow), and the RT gave me the names of the neurologists that they work with. so yay!

my GP will be heartbroken. heh

Snoredog wrote:I suggest you post a copy of your PSG results (black out any personal information), where we can then see what you have

Very good suggestion. Unless central apneas were showing up in significant numbers in your sleep study, iPlayFlonkerton, you probably have the same sleep breathing disorder that most people have -- plain OSA -- obstructive sleep apnea (not central sleep apnea) and CPAP is the first line treatment for plain OSA.

What you described here while awake is normal, and doesn't mean a person has Central Sleep Apnea at all:

iPlayFlonkerton wrote:my brain just doesn't trigger my lungs to breathe. my brain is so much more screwed up than my family thought... it even sometimes happens when i'm awake, especially when i'm concentrating on something.... i don't completely stop breathing then, but my breathing gets very shallow, and then i have to take a REALLY deep breath... which then results in a sigh, and people think i'm bored or annoyed. i'm like "i swear, i'm not bored... i just forgot to breathe!"

Links to Central Apnea discussions
viewtopic.php?p=22702

From one of the threads in those links --
christinequilts - "Think about when you exercise or concentrate hard- if you're not aware you can hold your breath which is essentially central apnea."

I'd stick an "a" in that sentence to claify the last part a bit more... "which is essentially a central apnea.

No matter what your family thinks ... ... hey, looks like you're more normal than you thought. After all, it's pretty "normal" for a lot of people to have OSA while sleeping.

And it's definitely "normal" to have occasional centrals when concentrating while awake.